Harry Potter and the Thief of Reality
by aninnymouseb23
Summary: Harry Potter is enjoying the Quidditch World Cup before the start of his fourth year at Hogwarts when he notices a boy his age stealing something suspicious from Lucius Malfoy. How will his future change now that a sketchy thief he does not trust begins attending Hogwarts. (I bet you Merlin's shorts that this story will knock your socks off!)
1. Chapter 1

Harry brought down the pair of omnioculars from his eyes to get a real time view of the quidditch match going on in front of him. Despite the handiness of the pair of magic binoculars, the fact that they allowed the user to watch what was happening in slow motion meant that the user would not be up to speed with what was going on in the "present". Harry caught a quick glimpse of an Irish chaser netting the quaffle as the sea of green in the crowd of the world cup roared joyously. Ron Weasley, standing beside his best mate was absorbed in every moment of the action, eyes darting from player to player and quaffle to bludger. The second that Ron realized that Ireland had taken a ten point lead, he was grabbing onto Harry's shoulders, shaking them vigorously in joy while jumping up and down.

"Hell yeah! That's how we bloody do it!" Ron shouted.

Harry was unperturbed by the shaking and shouting and joined in, cheering his lungs out with Ron and the rest of the Weasley family. The fast paced action continued and it wasn't long before Bulgaria had netted a goal to tie up the score. Harry and the rest of the Weasleys went back to being absorbed by the action unfolding before them, cheering at the success of green while booing anything the Bulgarians managed to pull off against the superior Irish team, though Ron was booing a lot more halfheartedly than the others.

"Krummy boy's gotta find the snitch soon!" said George with a grin, standing behind both Harry and Ron, resting his weight on their shoulders using his elbows.

"Are you thick in the head Fred, Ireland's up one hundred and sixty points, they won't win if he catches the snitch now!" stated Ron confidently right before catching a slap on the backside of the head by the other Weasley twin.

"I'm Fred you twit, merlin knows how you're related to us with that brain of yours Ronny boy" chuckled Fred all the while still keeping an eye on the happenings going on in the air.

Ron rubbed the back of his head "either way, he can't catch the snitch now, they won't win like that" he said.

"Well, their chances of winning are negative five hundred anyway, Krum might as well get the snitch highlight and save his team from any more embarrassment" said George confidently.

"Come on, no way he's gonna do that!" chimed in Harry. As if on queue, Krum was plummeting towards a golden glint towards the corner of the pitch and the crowd held its collective breath.

"What a match, what a match! Did you see him soar, that man's part eagle I tell you!" Ron exclaimed.

He was lying on his bed, Krum figurine in hand as he threw it in the air and caught it. Harry was sitting across from him, on the bed opposite. "You know, I think someone's in love" the boys turned to door to see Hermione and Ginny entering the room.

"You wouldn't understand Hermione, you're not really a quidditch-head" Ron replied, sitting up and smiling.

"Well I'm a quidditch-head Ronald, and if I didn't know any better I would say everytime you see Krum you get a har- " Ginny was saying before she was interrupted by the sound of singing entering the room.

"_Victor I love you, I'm falling aparttt-'' sang_ the Weasley twins as they entered the room.

"_You've stolen the snitch, now you've stolen my hearttt" _Harry joined in with the Weasley twins' chorus.

Everyone in the room was now laughing as Fred and George walked up to Harry, fist bumping him before diving on to their beds to lay down after the celebrations. The sounds of the Irish celebrating could still be heard from outside, as firecrackers and celebratory spells were set off. Ron was now explaining the intricacies of the Wronski feint performed by Krum to a bored looking Ginny and Hermione while the twins were now grappling over a piece of candy they had found under one of the beds that came with their magical tent.

Reminded of the Wronski Feint, Harry decided it would be one hell of a maneuver to add to his repertoire for the upcoming year. Quidditch was always one of Harry's favorite parts about the Hogwarts' school year, after having become the youngest seeker in a century in his first year. Remembering he had recorded the majority of the match on his omniculars, he decided to pull it out to observe the feint in slow motion and really break it down. As he was watching the footage, he realized that he didn't have a good angle of the move at all as his omniculars had been hanging from the strap around his neck at the time. What a shame, he thought to himself as he was about to lower the omnioculars from his eyes. That was when he noticed something in the frame he had not noticed before. There was Lucius Malfoy sitting with his son Draco to the right of where Harry and the Weasleys had been sitting. That however wasn't the part that caught Harry's attention. He had been well aware of the Malfoy family during the match. The interesting part was what Harry was able to glimpse going on behind them. A boy, no older than 15 with blondish-brown hair coming to his ears, and celtic green paint all over his face and shirtless body was concentrated on something, wand in hand and tongue out. As Harry looked closely, he could see the bag of one Lucius Malfoy that had been placed beside him slowly start to shift backwards. The boy grabbed the bag casually, throwing the strap around his shoulder and starting to celebrate as the snitch that had just been caught by Krum, all the while slowly shifting his way out of the box that held the Malfoys and the Weasleys. Soon he was out of frame, with Lucius Malfoy none the wiser about his bag having been stolen in the heat of the quidditch match. Harry had to give it up to the boy, he had managed to pull a heist right under the nose of the Malfoy patriarch while the crowd was absorbed by the happenings of the match. But how had he been able to use magic outside of school, there was no way the boy was seventeen, at least it didn't look like it to Harry. He lowered the omnioculars from his face.

"Nah but listen, what are we going to school for if they're just gonna tell us to go learn the material at home." Ron explained, trying his best to convince Hermione of the reasoning behind not doing any of the summer homework they had been assigned.

Ginny was now trying to yank the Weasley twins apart as they continued their scuffle over assumably the piece of candy from earlier.

"Hey guys!" said Harry as everyone turned to look at him, even the twins freezing mid wrestle.

"At the match-" Harry tried to explain before someone suddenly burst through the door and everyone turned to see who it was.

"EVERYONE, FOLLOW ME NOW!" came the voice from Bill Weasley standing at the door, wand in hand and a grim look on his face. Everyone, understanding that something serious was going on, stood up to follow Bill.

"What's going on Bill?" asked George as he straightened out his shirt and his face hardened into a serious look.

The two words that came from Bill's mouth brought a look of horror to everyone's faces, well everyone's except Harry's who felt out of the loop about what exactly they was going on.

"Death Eaters!".


	2. Chapter 2

The events of the Quidditch World Cup passed like a blur in Harry's mind. What with all the action that had occured on the pitch, not to mention the Death Eater raid of the celebrations the night of the World Cup Finals. It all had Harry very worried, something was in the works. He thought of the awful vision that he had had earlier in the summer where he listened in on a conversation between Voldemort, that slimy traitor Wormtail and the unknown mystery man. Yes, Voldemort must have been behind the attack on the Quidditch World Cup, but that didn't make any sense, there was no way that Voldemort had any contact with his former followers considering the condition he was currently in. Mr. Weasley had mentioned that perhaps the Death Eaters had simply wanted to enjoy the night and go muggle hunting (those sick bastards Harry thought to himself). The most confusing part to Harry however, was the conjuration of the Dark Mark by a shadowy figure he hadn't been able to recognize. It would seem that the Mark had such a reputation that even Voldemort's former (maybe former, Harry thought) Death Eater's had fled once they had seen it take to the sky. But that was all about a week ago, they had promptly left the World Cup as soon as the Death Eater Raid had ended and headed straight for the Burrow, the Weasley family home.

The Ministry of Magic seems to have had their hands full and their employees busy as Harry and the others saw very little of Mr. Weasley over the coming days. Caught up in all the excitement and anxiety of the events that had occured, as well as Mrs. Weasley's attempts to keep them all busy with chores, Harry completely forgot to mention what he had seen in the omnioculars to Ron and Hermione until several days after the World Cup. When he did finally show them, Ron had let out a burst of laughter while Hermione had a very thoughtful expression on her face.

"What a slick bastard! I wonder how many Galleons he made away with…. Just look at how he blends in with the Irish lot!" Ron had said, as he held up the omnioculars to his eyes rewatching the theft for the third time.

"You really think he was just after gold?" Harry asked him, though the question was open to both Ron and Hermione.

"I mean ya, either that or he hates the Malfoy pricks as much as we do!" Ron chuckled in response.

"I don't know Ron, everyone knows that Lucius Malfoy isn't someone you really mess with for a bit of gold-" Harry thought out loud.

"Ha, speak for yourself, if I had the chance to swipe some gold from under his pompous nose-".

"What I think is more interesting than the hypothetical gold you're talking about Ron.." Hermione interjected as Ron shot her a dirty look.

"is the fact that he did magic" Hermione stated.

"Well any bloke can do magic! Plus the spell didn't even look that complicated!" Ron said confidently while brandishing an imaginary wand that he used to wave around and illustrate his point to the other two while Hermione rolled her eyes and Harry grinned.

"What I meant was that he looked underaged Ron, and stop flailing your lanky arms around like that, you're gonna take someone's eye out!".

They continued talking about the different possibilities of what had taken place, speculating how and why the boy had done what he did. While Ron thought he was only after the hypothetical gold that was in the bag, Harry seemed to have different ideas. He told them that maybe the boy had stolen a dark artifact from Malfoy (they all shuddered at the thought, reminded of the Riddle diary that Lucius Malfoy had once possessed) and wanted to perhaps get Malfoy in trouble. Though both Ron and Hermione didn't seem very convinced by this theory, it was better than Ron's other theory about the boy being a goblin debt collector sent by Gringotts Bank to repossess funds on their behalf. Out of the trio Hermione seemed to have the least theories about what they had seen in the omnioculars. She continued to wonder about the potential underage magic that had occured and mentioned something about "Library", "Research" and "Hogwarts" which caused Ron to let out a big groan at the thought of reading or returning to school.

"What are you lot always whispering about anyway?" the trio turned to see Ginny entering the kitchen with a curious expression on her face.

"Butt off nosey" Ron said, though without any real malice in his voice.

"Shutup Ron..and nothing Ginny, we're just talking about the World Cup" Hermione said giving Ginny a smile and Ron a dirty look.

"Ya, ok" Ginny nodded, but did not look very convinced.

"Well sis, just let em have their super secret conversations, we all know they are planning the downfall of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!" they all turned around to see Fred and George entering the kitchen, both supporting massive black eyes.

"What the hell happened to you guys?" Harry asked, looking intrigued.

"Ask us no questions young Harry..." George started.

"And we shall tell you no lies" Fred finished for him.

Ginny rolled her eyes at this and looked as though she had heard this exact phrase perhaps a thousand times before.

"Anyway, mom said start packing for the King's Cross. She doesn't want any of you to leave it for tomorrow morning, you know how fussy she gets." Ginny stated, before leaving the kitchen with an apple in hand. Everyone in the kitchen (except for Hermione, of course) gave a collective groan as they got up to pack their bags and belongings for the next morning.

It was the morning of September 1st, Platform nine and three quarters was jumping with activity as Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys entered the station. The bright scarlett train was billowing smoke into the clear baby blue sky and everyone seemed to have forgotten the Death Eater incident at the world cup. It seemed as if all was well. Mr. Weasley was telling everyone to have a good year and that they all had a surprise in store for them at school, which made everyone raise an eyebrow but Mr. Weasley refused to answer any of their questions because it would "spoil the surprise". Mrs. Weasley on the other hand fussed with everyone, fixing their hair and straightening their clothes in broad view of the entire platform which caused all of them to flush with embarrassment.

"Come on woman, we got things to do, places to be!" Fred exclaimed as his mother attempted to pull his pants up higher and straighten out the wrinkles on his shirt.

"At this rate Lee's gonna graduate before we get to school mum!" George chimed in.

"So you mean we'll be here for 15 years.." Fred muttered to George causing him to snort.

"Shut it you two! As if I can let you go to school looking like the mess you are!" said Mrs. Weasley sternly as if daring them to respond which they both wisely chose not to do.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and the rest of the Weasley children said their goodbyes to Mr and Mrs. Weasley and started boarding the train. The twins ran off to find Lee Jordan and do whatever mischief they had been whispering about on the way to the station. Harry was sure he heard the words "Toffy" and "Lee's gonna be pissed" thrown around. Ginny on the other hand was invited into a compartment by a third year girl with platinum blonde hair that Harry had seen around at Hogwarts and was sure was a Ravenclaw. Harry, Ron and Hermione finally saw an empty compartment which they quickly occupied.

They started to relax and put their bags away while Hermione pulled out a book. Just as Ron was about to say something to her, probably about to tell her what he thought about her reading on the way to school, Harry held up a hand to silence him. Hermione put her book down and they both looked at him as he pointed to the wall of the compartment. From the other side they could hear the voice of one Draco Malfoy and another voice they did not quite recognize.

They listened in as Malfoy droned on about something, though couldn't quite hear the words he was saying. The other voice would chime in a response every once in a while. Curiosity getting the better of him, he got up and left the compartment quietly with Ron and Hermione on his trail. As the other two approached Harry who was already crouching outside Malfoy's compartment staring through a section that wasn't covered by blinds, they saw a very surprised look on his face. Hermione crouched down as well to get a view of the inside the compartment. She saw Draco Malfoy sitting there with Crabbe and Goyle and some other boy, arrogantly talking while twirling his wand between his fingers. Realization suddenly hit Hermione, that was the boy she had seen stealing from Lucius Malfoy in the omnioculars.


	3. Chapter 3

"He's right there, that's him" Harry whispered to Ron who was crouching behind his best mate and hadn't gotten a chance to look inside yet. Although the mystery man did look a little different when he was not covered in the celtic green paint he had plastered over himself at the world cup, it was undoubtedly him.

"Who?" came a reply from Ron who was now trying to lean over Harry to get a better view of the inside of the compartment.

"The boy from the omnioculars. I wonder what he's doing on the Hogwarts Express. He can't be a Hogwarts student, can he?" Hermione muttered, more to herself than the other two.

"Well I guess this proves he is underage. So how in the world did he perform magic at the world cup without the ministry finding out?" said Harry who looked almost as lost in thought as Hermione.

"Look at him, all buddy buddy with those Slytherin prats! Must be another one of those elitists like Malfoy if he's so close to him." Ron spat sourly.

"You know this doesn't make any sense, right?. I mean he can't really be an ally of Malfoy's if he stole from his father, can he?" Hermione whispered to the other two.

Without any warning, the door to the compartment that held the Slytherin trio and Hogwarts' new mystery man flew open. Harry and Ron who had been near the edge of the door fell backwards in a tangled flurry while Hermione quickly got to her feet. Malfoy was standing at the door with his two Slytherin cronies, Crabbe and Goyle, who cracked their knuckles in an intimidating fashion. A smirk had taken its place on Malfoy's face as he saw Harry and Ron quickly getting to their feet, looking flushed with anger and embarrassment.

"Look at that, cockroaches listening in on our conversation. How sweet! Didn't your parents teach you it's rude to eavesdrop, Potter? Oh wait, oops, I forgot…." finished Malfoy, a big smile now plastering his face.

Harry's face flushed redder than it had been just a second prior. He balled his fists in anger at Malfoy's words as his face began to heat up. He was trying his very best at this point not to lose control and cave in Malfoy's face with his fist.

"Watch your words Malfoy, before I throw you off this train!" said Ron, as he stepped forward towards Malfoy, his face within a foot of the other boy's.

"Weasel, nice to see you. Must be living in a tent now, what with all the money you and your family spent on those World Cup tickets. How's papa Weasel doing by the way? Father told me the ministry has him running around like a dog recently, must be trying to put some food on the table with all that overtime he's doing." smirked Malfoy, as he crossed his arms waiting for Ron to respond.

By this point, both Hermione and Harry were doing their best to restrain Ron from kicking Malfoy in the face. Not only were the gorilla versions of boys standing beside Malfoy in the form of Crabbe and Goyle, but there was no way that Harry and Hermione were willing to let Ron get suspended or even possibly expelled from school before their fourth year had even begun.

"Now, now fellas. Let's not get overly excited before we even get to our fine school. I doubt our wonderful headmaster would appreciate that very much." the voice came from inside the compartment, as the mystery man was now slowly stepping out.

He spoke with a slight accent, though Harry couldn't quite pinpoint exactly where it was from. He had muggle clothes on, wearing worn baggy jeans and a sweater. There wasn't anything that particularly unique that stood out about him, he was of about average height supporting a thin frame with pale skin and dark brown eyes. The thing that had helped Harry initially recognize him as the boy from the World Cup was the hairstyle he was supporting. It was light brown hair, slightly on the longer side and parted to the left. Altogether, if Harry had seen him on the streets of London, magic and wizardry wouldn't necessarily come to mind.

"And who might you be?" Hermione asked, now looking towards the direction of the boy like everyone else was.

Ron seemed to have calmed down considerably and supported a curious look on his face like both Hermione and Harry.

"Carson... Frode Carson" he said in a sort of mock demeanor, with a laugh to follow. Harry and Hermione realized the boy had attempted to emulate a Bond entrance, but this seemed to fly over the heads of the others who were standing there looking somewhat confused. Before either Harry or Hermione could respond to this however, Draco Malfoy spoke up.

"No need to introduce yourself to these lot, Carson. The great Harry Potter isn't all he's cracked up to be. I mean what kind of great wizard has a Weasel and a mudblood for sidekicks?"

"So the girl is a mudblood eh?" asked the boy named Carson, narrowing his eyes, though it seemed like a rhetorical question.

The boy was staring at Hermione now, almost through her as if she wasn't there at all. He looked as if he was lost in his thoughts for a moment. Both Harry and Ron were seething at this point as Hermione was putting her absolute best effort to stand in front of the two boys and prevent them from doing anything stupid.

"Absolutely disgusting." said Carson, though still looking a little lost in thought and talking to no one directly.

"Tell me about it." agreed Malfoy.

"Filthy little mudblood walking around Hogwarts like she's the-" but before Malfoy could finish, the onslaught began.

Harry and Ron had broken past Hermione and made to attack the other boys. Ron dived at Malfoy, grabbing a fistful of his shirt and connecting a satisfying punch to his gut before he was jumped by Crabbe and Goyle from both sides. Malfoy fell backwards holding his midsection while Crabbe and Goyle started connecting Ron in the ribs with sharp smacks and punches. Harry on the other hand had felt his own fist connect right onto Carson's nose, hearing a crack followed by a cry of pain by the other boy. Before Harry could look at the result of his handiwork however, the boy had dived at his legs and tackled him to the ground.

Hermione watched in horror as Crabbe and Goyle held Ron by the arms while Malfoy made his way towards him with a nasty look of anger on his face. Before Malfoy could do anything, Hermione ran behind the two behemoths, kicking Goyle as hard as she could right behind the kneecap. The boy buckled in pain, and Ron who had been freed from hold on his right side kicked Malfoy right to the ribs with his lanky leg. Malfoy, while grimacing in pain managed to hold onto Ron's leg, as him, Crabbe and Ron all went down in a tumble.

Ginny Weasley was sitting in a compartment with her quirky Ravenclaw friend, Luna Lovegood. Luna was going on about how nargles were giving off bad energies or something on the train, just some weird Luna mumbo jumbo, while Ginny was looking outside the window, enjoying the Scottish scenery that was in her field of view. She loved Luna but sometimes it was best to let Luna be herself and just not really listen to everything she was saying or else you might be prone to losing brain cells. Out of the corner of her eye, Ginny saw that the corridor outside their compartment was getting awfully crowded.

"What in the world is going on. We don't get to Hogwarts for another few hours, or am I losing my marbles?" she asked.

Luna didn't voice a response, just shrugging, not looking at all interested in what was going on outside in the hallway. Curiosity getting the best of Ginny, she got up to see what everyone was fussing about. Pandemonium would have been an understatement to what Ginny witnessed as she stepped outside. Almost every single compartment door was open, everyone had stepped out of their compartments like Ginny had, trying to get a better look at what was going on towards the other end of the train. Ginny quickly pushed through the murmuring crowd before she could see what all the commotion was about.

Marcus Turner, the Ravenclaw prefect, Cedric Diggory, the Hufflepuff prefect, as well as a few older Gryffindor and Slytherin students were all working together to separate six boys who looked as if they had been to hell and back. Ginny recognized Harry, supporting broken glasses and bruises all over his face with Hermione standing beside him. Of course he had found trouble, Ginny thought, the first day of school hadn't even started and he had gotten into a fight. She then saw the twins holding up Ron, who looked like he had been put through a blender, though he had a grin on his face. Mom is going to kill him, and probably me and the twins as well for not preventing this, Ginny thought to herself.

On the other side stood Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, all looking just as bad as Harry and Ron. She also saw another boy whose face was covered in so much blood she couldn't even recognize him. No wait, she thought to herself, she wouldn't have recognized him anyway, that face was one she had never seen before. Before she could inquire any further or get any closer to the scene, Turner, who was standing between the six boys turned to the crowd.

"EVERYONE, BACK IN YOUR COMPARTMENTS NOW!" he shouted at the students, who were all staring at the scene. No one made to move at all.

"Everyone, get back in your compartments right now and let the prefects handle the situation. Anyone outside their compartments will be dealing directly with their head of house the second we get to Hogwarts." this time it wasn't Turner, but the calm, stern voice of Diggory who was addressing the crowd.

Everyone started muttering but didn't disobey his orders as they headed back in. Ginny took one glance at the scene of the fight, before reluctantly turning around to head back inside the compartment. This was going to be a long year, she could already tell.


	4. Chapter 4

Authors Note: So this is the fourth chapter I have released in the past 7 days. I realize that these chapters are on the shorter side. It is up to you guys as the audience to let me know whether you prefer shorter chapters 3-4 times a week, or nice long chapters maybe 1-2 times a week. Either way the word count will end up being the same per week. I have really enjoyed writing this story so far, please give the story reviews and follows. I would love to hear from you all!

The compartment belonging to the fourth year Slytherins quickly became cramped as the four girls and two boys made their way inside on Diggory's orders.

"You know Diggory is a right git, we didn't even get a chance to see what happened with Draco and those Gryffindor cunts!" the words came out of the mouth of a blonde boy, already dressed in his robes and stuffing his face with a pumpkin pasty.

"Do you always have to be so brash Theo?" said a raven haired girl who wore a thick gold and emerald bracelet around her wrist.

"Boy came out of the womb swearing Daph, you can't fix bad habits so easily..unfortunately" this time it was the tall boy with dark skin and a short, crisp buzzcut who spoke.

"Forget my choice of verbage for a sec will you Blaise..." Theo replied through a mouthful of pasty before swallowing with a big gulp.

"What I'm trying to say is that Draco and those gorillas are royally fucked! An all out brawl before we even get to school. They'd be lucky if Snape doesn't suspend them, and if the punishment doesn't fall down to Snape, it's gonna be made by Dumbledore himself, and good luck if that happens!" he finished, a dark look now falling on his face.

"Draco's papa is a Hogwarts governor, I highly doubt anything drastic is going to happen to him. He'll probably just be stuck cleaning cauldrons for a week or two." interjected the curly haired blonde girl sitting next to Daphne Greengrass.

"You know Potter and Weasley should have been expelled years ago. They're always pulling some bullshit like this!" said the brown haired girl with an angry expression on her pug-like face.

"C'mon now Pansy, you know Potter is Dumbledore's golden boy, nothing is going to happen to him!" stated Daphne with an irked expression on her face, placing a hand on Pansy's shoulder to calm her down.

"By the way, who the hell was that new guy? He looked straight fucked up, Crabbe must have smashed his nose pretty good!" said Theo, demonstrating what Crabbe must have done by pretending to punch an invisible opponent in the nose.

"Except he was on Draco's side..." replied Zabini, leaning back in his seat and staring at the ceiling of the small compartment.

"Wait what? Who is he?" it was Millicent Bulstrode who had spoken up for the first time since they had returned from the hall, looking as surprised as everyone else.

"I have no clue." he replied, before catching a quizzical look from all the other Slytherins.

"If you guys paid better attention you would realize it was Potter who broke the new boy's nose." when he saw that the others around him still looked confused, Blaise continued.

"He was the only one bleeding and Potter was the only one with blood on his clothes" Zabini finished lazily, still looking deep in thought.

Everyone in the compartment looked slightly startled by this information, though Blaise Zabini's wit and attention to detail wasn't anything new for any of them. The Slytherins were always a tight knit group, well at least in public. The fact that none of them had recognized the boy with the broken nose meant that either Draco had just met the boy, which wouldn't explain why he had helped Draco fight his nemesis Potter or that Draco had an ally that was going to be attending Hogwarts this year and had told none of them about it. Well maybe he had told Crabbe and Goyle, but no one really counted those two.

"His name is Floyd, or Froyd Carson or something like that. I heard Turner asking him his name. I just thought he was a buddy of Potter's." It was Daphne who now spoke, twirling the golden bracelet around her wrist.

The rest of the ride towards Hogwarts was spent discussing the instigation of the fight, the potential consequences, and the identity of one Froyd or Floyd Carson. As they all agreed, Carson was not a pureblood name that any of them had heard before, hell it wasn't a wizarding name they had heard before.

Ginny and Luna had been sitting in their compartment in silence for a little while now along with one other individual. Neville Longbottom who had lost his original compartment in the rumble and tumble of the train corridor had joined the two girls in fear of being caught in the hall by a prefect and suffering Mcgonagall's wrath when they arrived at Hogwarts.

Luna was now waving her arms in an airy manner around her head as the other two tried their best to ignore her strange behaviour by staring at their shoes or outside the window. It was slowly getting dark outside. Both Neville and Ginny jumped slightly in their seats when they heard knocking on their compartment door. Ginny quickly composed herself, before getting up to see who it was. She was very surprised to see Hermione at the doorway, who gave a small smile and made her way in.

Before Hermione could get settled, Ginny was launching questions her way.

"What in the world happened Hermione. You do realize mum is going to kill us all when Ron gets expelled!" she sighed, then continued.

"Sorry, go ahead Hermione" she finished.

Hermione explained the entire situation of how they had been peeking inside Malfoy's compartment to see who he was talking to (though she left out the omniocular situation which was still a big question mark for her) and how Malfoy had come out and said what he had said. She then explained the entire fight and how it had been broken up by the prefects.

"So h-how did you not get into any trouble." both Hermione and Ginny turned in surprise to see it was Neville who had spoken.

"Sorry, um..didn't mean to eavesdrop, but we are in a small compartment." he explained rather quickly.

"That's alright Neville. Anyway Harry and Ron both said I wasn't involved in the fight. I don't really think Diggory believed them but Malfoy didn't argue the point. I think it was because if they did, then him calling me a mudblood would have to be brought up." she finished rather sadly.

"So what do you reckon is going to happen to them?" asked Ginny.

"Well when Turner was questioning me they said they had already contacted Mcgonagall and Snape..." Hermione was saying, as Neville gave a shudder at the mention of Snape, Slytherin's head of house.

"I mean I hope everything turns out ok. They can't expel either of them right? Dumbledore is very fond of Harry and Ron." Hermione finished somewhat nervously.

"I don't know about Dumbledore being fond of Ron" Ginny muttered with a chuckle.

"Didn't they get away with driving a flying car to school in second year?" added Neville.

"Where did you hear about that?" asked Hermione.

"Yaknow, Hogwarts rumour mill-" he mumbled.

"I don't really gossip or anything, I just over heard it from someone!" he added quickly after receiving a curious look from the two girls.

The three Gryffindors continued nervously discussing the possible consequences for Harry and Ron while Luna pulled out a copy of the Quibbler which she then proceeded to read sideways.

Harry and Ron sat silently in a prefect compartment as they waited for Diggory to return. They had been separated from Malfoy and his cronies who were now being questioned. Finally it was Ron who broke the silence.

"Mcgonagalls gonna kill us aint she." he said with a dark chuckle.

"You can say that again mate. Just better pray that Snape isn't going to be the one to greet us when we get to Hogsmeade." Harry replied, shaking his head.

"Snape can go and shove a boomslang-" Ron was saying before the door opened and Diggory walked in.

"I wouldn't let him hear you say that, Weasley" Diggory chuckled, a smile drawing on his face.

Both Harry and Ron laughed at this. Diggory had already questioned them about what happened and reported back to Hogwarts, as was his duty as a prefect. He now explained to them how they would be getting off the train after everyone else had gotten off so they could be escorted by whoever was sent to pick them up.

For the rest of the train ride the boys sat and joked with Diggory, who turned out to be way more laid back than how he had displayed himself in front of the other students. It turned out Diggory had been made aware of some sort of tournament that would be happening at Hogwarts this year, though he told Harry and Ron to keep this under wraps. Ron looked extremely excited at the mention of a tournament with a grand prize and the whole school as the audience before coming to the realization that they would probably be spending the rest of the school year in detention, which quickly ruined his new found excitement.

After what seemed like a lifespan of waiting, the train finally arrived at Hogsmeade Station. The sounds of chatter and excitement lit up as the other students slowly started making their way off the train and onto the platform. Harry could even hear Hagrid faintly in the distance, calling the first years to aboard the boats which would take them across the lake to the castle. Once everyone was off and on their way to the school, Cedric Diggory got up and told them to follow. Harry and Ron grabbed their luggage, still supporting their muggle clothes as they did not get a chance to change, and made their way off the train. As they stepped out to the starry night sky of Hogsmeade, they didn't get a chance to fully appreciate its beauty before setting their eyes on a sight they wished they did not see. Standing near the edge of the platform waiting to receive them was none other than a greasy haired, hooked nose professor who had a big, satisfied grin on his face. Harry and Ron let out a big sigh before making their way towards him.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: I want to thank you guys for my first review. Thank you so much (You know who you are, pm me if you are ok with me putting your name here). Also I feel like this is just the very end of the first act sort of prelogue of my story. We are about to dive into the real action very soon. Follows, reviews and favs are always appreciated. They really help motivate me so much to get chapters out that much quicker! Anyways, enjoy your irregularly unscheduled programming folks!

"You have once again managed to create an uproar before making it to the gates of Hogwarts, Potter. Is a regular train ride getting too tame for your celebrity?" Snape stated in a cold, calculated fashion as if trying to draw a reaction from Harry who stared back into Snape's eyes with pure hatred.

"Where the hell are Malfoy and the others? They're the ones that started it!" Harry retorted, his feelings starting to get heated again.

"Language Potter!" warned Snape, ignoring Harry's question before curtly turning around and walking towards the carriages.

Harry made to say something but Ron put a hand on his shoulder.

"Play the game mate. We can't keep losing our heads. You know Snape would use anything you say or do to make our punishment worse." he whispered to Harry as the two started to make their way, following their professor.

They were forced to walk briskly to keep up with the potions master who kept a quick pace. The moonlight shining down on Hogsmeade made the shadows dance around them and made the man they were following look like a bat wading his way through the night. All the horseless carriages had departed to take the students back to Hogwarts, all except two. Harry and Ron made their way inside. Snape made a strange motion in the air in front of the carriage as if petting an invisible horse before making his way inside. To say the ride to Hogwarts was uncomfortable in the presence of this particular professor would have been a gruesome understatement.

*HPTOR*

Cedric Diggory had enough on his mind as it was without having to deal with this juvenile house rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin. He reflected on his day, first having to stop a fight and dealing with the crowd on the train. Then questioning the culprits before reporting back to Hogwarts and if all that wasn't enough work, he had to babysit the boys on the train and escort the Slytherins from the train to Dumbledore's office. What a troublesome day. He had missed the majority of the feast but thankfully Professor Snape had relieved him of his prefect duties for the night so he made his way to the kitchens to fill up.

On his trek to the kitchen, the torch lit corridors flickered back and forth with shadows as Cedric was buried in his own thoughts. He reminded himself of his main objective for this year. The Triwizard Tournament. His father was the one who had told him about the event and the glory that accompanied the school champions. Cedric was not the type of person who would want to win a tournament for adulation or for whatever prize they would be offering, maybe that was why he was in HufflePuff. The reason he had wanted to participate however was because despite his carefree personality, behind his laid back nature and Hufflepuff friendliness and charm, he had a desire. A desire to make his papa proud.

*HPTOR*

Weasley, Potter, Crabbe, Goyle, Malfoy and Carson. The boys all sat silently in Dumbledore's office awaiting the arrival of the Headmaster who was currently at the feast. Severus Snape sat at Dumbledore's desk, flipping through what looked like a book on potions, though he didn't seem very interested in the contents.

The Slytherins had arrived a couple minutes prior, being escorted by Diggory who looked very tired. Everyone in the room now sat in silence, no one daring to make a sound and possibly pissing off the professor in the room. Harry noticed that Carson had his nose healed, probably by Diggory, though there was still a good amount of dried blood he hadn't bothered to clean off his face. He actually looked somewhat bored sitting there. Harry saw him look up at Draco and give him a smirk as Draco shook his head and smirked back. This made no sense whatsoever in Harry's mind and apparently Ron was thinking the same thing as he also looked very interested in the mannerisms of the four boys sitting across from them. Well maybe only two of them, Crabbe and Goyle couldn't really be described as complex or interesting creatures when being observed as they just sat there, grunting every so often.

The sound of the gargoyle spinning to let someone in startled all the boys in the room. Their eyes darted up to see Dumbledore entering his office. Carson in particular stiffened up as if raising his guard.

"Good evening gentleman" he said as his eyes swept around the room, seeing the boys who had been involved in the incident on the train.

"I shall take my leave then, Headmaster?" it was Snape who had put his book back in his robes and was now standing.

"Very well Severus...oh and if you are ever in need of some relaxing music, might I suggest 'Rondo in A Mirror', it really is quite a beautiful muggle piece." his eyes twinkled as he made this bizarre suggestion.

If Snape was confused by what the Headmaster suggested like the boys were, he didn't show it. He nodded before sweeping out of the room, his robes billowing in his wake.

"Now then gentleman.." Dumbledore stated as he took a seat at his desk, facing the six boys.

"I have been made aware of the unfortunate happenings on the train..." he continued.

Harry and Ron looked down at their feet, not wanting to face the Headmaster. They could tell that Dumbledore was disappointed with them. Even though Malfoy had egged them on and was pretty much asking for an ass-kicking, they should have handled the situation differently.

"I think that perhaps it would benefit each one of you tremendously to spend some more time in the presence of your rivals."

"What!?" it was Malfoy who had retorted in concern, but it was a concern they all shared.

What the hell was Dumbledore talking about. They were going to have to spend detentions together weren't they. Dammit, this year was getting off to a terrible start.

Dumbledore cleared his throat with a small cough and Malfoy seemed to take the hint, sitting back down.

"Now then, you shall all be informed of when your first meeting will be for, how shall I say, your first task as a group." he finished.

Everyone raised an eyebrow in a confused manner. They were getting some sort of detention and that was it? No lecture, no other repercussions?

"That's it professor?"

"Yes Harry, that will be all."

"I don't understand sir"

"Take the words of a wise old fool how you may Harry, but sometimes understanding something is what makes us most confused."

Ron and Harry stared at Dumbledore in shock while Malfoy and the twin boulders snorted, though Malfoy tried to pass it for a violent cough when he caught the eye of the Headmaster.

"Sir."

"Yes Frode?"

It was the first time the boy had spoken since entering the room. Now he had everyone's attention.

"Is this punishment we face supposed to act as some sort of catalyst for the _greater good?_" Carson asked, emphasizing the last part.

A smile formed on Dumbledore's face as he made an almost thoughtful expression for a second before replying.

"No, I would say not."

"You're crazy old man" Carson retorted. An almost angry expression on his face now.

Harry, Ron and Malfoy stared at the situation unfolding in front of them. What in the world was happening. How was Frode talking this way to the Headmaster. Harry almost thought Dumbedore was about to snap.

"So I've been told, Frode, so I've been told.." Dumbledore chuckled, stroking his lengthy white beard.

"Now, I know it is late and you must all be starved. So make your way to the great hall and off to bed right after. I'm sure there is a great deal your friends would love to share with you in the morning."

And with that, the boys were dismissed. Carson and the Slytherin pack quickly made their way to the great hall. Harry could see Carson lean over and whisper something in Malfoy's ear.

"Well, Dumbledore may have lost his marbles, but he is right about one thing." Ron said.

"Ya, and what's that?"

"I'm starving" he said, as he threw an arm around his best mate and they walked towards the great hall.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:** Hey folks! I know I haven't updated for about a week and I'm sorry for that. As you all know, the world is a little bit hectic at the moment. On a brighter note, we have received our second review which seemed to be full of passion, so much love for that. Continue showing love and support and I will continue trying to get chapters out in a timely manner. (side note: If any of you ever review and would like to be mentioned in a future chapter, just put 5 stars at the end of your review like so *****)

***HPTOR***

The next morning, Harry and Ron sat at the Gryffindor table which was abuzz due to the news of the Triwizard Tournament. Harry had been about to blurt out that they had already heard about the tournament on the train thanks to Cedric Diggory but Ron had quickly nudged him before he managed to spill the beans.

One new detail that they did learn however, was that there was an age restriction placed on the tournament to prevent anyone under the age of seventeen to enter their names for participation. Harry thought it was rather strange that the potential participants had to submit their name into a magic goblet that would choose who was "worthy" of being school champion, but then again this was the magical world and he had seen much stranger things. The other two schools participating were Durmstrang and Beauxbatons with each school represented by one champion. Both Harry and Ron had looked confused when they heard these schools' names which caused Hermione to roll her eyes as if they had asked her what water was.

"Fred and George are trying to bypass the magical age restriction so they can enter the tournament. Of course it will never work, I mean why are they even trying to enter, Dumbledore himself said it was dangerous!" Hermione quickly explained to Ron and Harry, both whom looked tired due to the previous night's lack of sleep.

"Oi Fred! George!" Ron called to the twins who were sitting on the opposite side of the Gryffindor table a couple of seats down.

The twins who were huddled with their heads together as if discussing a topic of utmost secrecy looked up to see Ron calling them.

"What is it, prat? And shouldn't you two be in detention" Fred called back at him, though flashing a grin.

"Nah, Dumbledore said he'd let us know when our detention would take place! Anyway, any ideas on how to bypass the age restriction Dumbledore is placing on the Goblet?" Ron asked from them across the table.

This seemed to cause all types of eyes to turn to the source of the sound and not just those belonging to Gryffindors. Ron seemed to have attracted the attention of individuals in all houses who had quieted down a bit to hear the response. It seemed that many students under the age of seventeen in all the houses were desperate for a chance to enter this tournament. Upon hearing Ron's reply the twins quickly got up and walked briskly to where Ron, Harry and Hermione were sitting.

"Ronny, are you thick in the head?" George whispered sternly as he took a seat between Hermione and Ron.

"Hermione, why did you have to go around telling everyone about our plan!" Fred joined in, squeezing in between Harry and Hermione.

"First of all, you shouldn't be trying to enter the tournament anyway! Dumbledore said people have died in the past! And on top of that, it doesn't matter who I told about your little plan, there is no way that two sixteen year olds can possibly get past a restriction made by Dumbledore himself. He is practically the Merlin of our time!" she finished with a huff, her face flushing a little red.

"Ok forget what she said for a sec-" Ron interjected, earning a particularly nasty look from Hermione.

"Let's say you do come up with a solution to get past the...um.. whatever it was-"

"The age line" Hermione added.

"Ya, what she said. Let's say you do, why don't you share it with Harry and I. After all, as long as a Gryffindor becomes the school champion, I'd be happy with that. Just imagine if one of those Slytherin punks got chosen, the other schools are gonna think that's the best Hogwarts has to offer!" Ron finished in a rather dramatic fashion.

"You know Ron, I don't know if I wanna go breaking the rules so soon, what with Dumbledore saying the tournament is only for those of age!" Harry added hesitantly.

"Aww c'mon mate, don't be a pusboi, just think of the glory!" Ron replied, his eyes practically swimming with stars.

"Stop trying to force him Ron, he doesn't want to participate in what Fred and George got planned!"

"I can speak for myself Hermione. But ya mate, this one is all you!" Harry finished somewhat lamely. It looked like he still had something on his mind.

"And who said we would be sharing our super secret knowledge with you Ron!" Fred stated, folding his arms.

"Ya mum would kill us if our little brother were to be tragically killed in the Triwizard Tournament" added George.

"Not to mention how very much we would miss our dear brother Ronnykins" said a different voice who had not been invited to to partake in this conversation.

They all looked up to see Ginny standing there with a big smirk on her face. Fred looked like he was about to crack another joke at Ron's expense but George nudged him.

"Mcgonagall!" he whispered to his twin.

They briskly got up and walked away from the fourth years and Ginny followed suit as Professor Mcgonagall made her way towards them with a stack of papers in hand. Hermione seemed to perk up right away as she saw the Deputy Headmistress.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger, your timetables.." she said, handing them each a paper that outlined their schedules for the coming year.

"Oh, Potter and Weasley, the incident on the train-" Mcgonagall started to say.

"We're sorry about that professor, won't happen again." Harry replied quickly, a glum expression on his face.

"Well I was going to say, I hope what you did was necessary." she added, emphasizing her final word.

"Most definitely" Ron stated confidently, a smile now on his face.

"Very well.." Mcgonagall replied, as she walked away to hand out the timetables to the rest of the Gryffindors. Harry could have sworn he saw the beginnings of a smile on her face, it looked like she had better understanding of what had happened on the train than Harry and Ron had initially thought.

"Herbology with the Hufflepuffs first thing, let's get going" said Hermione.

"Wait a second, who's Moody" Harry asked, reading his new timetable, specifically the section regarding 'Defense Against the Dark Arts'.

Though he knew he would find out the answer to that question sooner rather than later.

***HPTOR***


End file.
